


circumpolar constellation

by zaritarazi



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Camping, F/F, Some multi ships mentioned bc like?? monogamy?? on legends?? in this economy??? please
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:46:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24066061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaritarazi/pseuds/zaritarazi
Summary: zari will not warm up to camping, but she's more than happy to warm up to charlie.
Relationships: Charlie/Zari Tomaz | Zari Tarazi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 71





	circumpolar constellation

It takes a moment for Charlie to realize the off-beat, smothered drumming noise on the roof of her tent is not the wind, but a small, bony fist. The knocks are inconsistent and slip on the nylon fabric, and Charlie tilts her head back, looking to see little indents being made in the makeshift ceiling. 

“Who is it?” she asks.

“Charlie?” Zari whispers. The indents stop, replaced by the clear pressing of her hand. “Did I wake you?”

“No,” Charlie says back. “You’re good. You want to come in?”

“Can I?” Zari says. 

“Sure,” Charlie says, moving to her knees, leaning forward and reaching for the zipper. Her hand is greeted by a brief chill and almost palms right into Zari’s face. She’s already crouched in the entryway. Had unzipped the tent before Charlie could.

Her fingers flicker to Charlie’s finger and then her face, lit from the bottom of her chin and under her eyes by Charlie’s camping lantern. “Sorry,” she offers. “I kind of thought you’d say yes and I’m cold.”

“I’d assumed,” Charlie says, dropping her hand. “Come on. You’re letting all the wind in.”

Zari gracelessly maneuvers into the tent, half-falling forward before catching herself on her hands, hoisting her feet inside and twisting onto her back. She zips up the door flap again like this, one free arm, the rest of her tangled in the enormous faux-fur blanket she’s wrapped around herself. 

Charlie doesn’t mind the bit of dirt she’s brought in with her from dragging the thing around with her, the same blanket she’d had grumpily thrown over her shoulders during campfire time. She’d seemed to loathe this camping ordeal entirely, growing increasingly gloomy as the sun had fully set and the rest of the team had been laughing over some kind of ghost story.

Charlie had only intermittently noticed her, in between the time she spent staring off at the horizon and trying to think about nothing.

“You want to roll over?” Charlie offers, shifting back onto her heels. 

Zari lets out a frustrated huff, her body squirming awkwardly as her trapped elbow seems to try and push out several times in different directions. She bucks her hips, pulling out the swath of blanket that had rolled beneath her, and finally pushing her other arm out with a gasp.

“Fuck,” she remarks, sitting up. They’re both small enough that they can sit without their heads touching the top of the tent, but Zari’s still so close to the entrance that her head presses against downward slope of the tent wall.

She makes a brief expression of annoyance, scooting forward and picking up her blanket behind her. She fusses with it for a moment, dragging dirt across the lap of her satiny pajamas.

“Charlie!” she says, like Charlie could possibly fix it. “I hate this!” She brushes off the dirt, holding her blanket ajar. “It’s so cold and dirty and I can’t sleep with all the _quiet_.”

Charlie fondly watches Zari fumble around with righting her blanket for another moment before leaning in and untwisting it. “You could go back to the ship,” Charlie says. “It’s parked right behind us.”

“I would _love_ to go back to the ship,” Zari says, finally adjusting the untangled blanket back around her body. “I want to take a two hour shower just to get all the outdoors off me.”

Charlie grins at her. “So why don’t you?”

“Because!” Zari says. “It’s not like I’m not tough enough to be out here.”

“Mick went back in a few hours ago,” Charlie says. “I don’t think that was a concern of his.”

Zari darts her tongue to lick her dry lips and crosses her arms. She’s looking distinctly frazzled and un-moisterized, something Charlie’s sure is driving her nuts. “It’s different,” she says. “I don’t want to be… a diva about it.”

“Is that the only time you’ve ever said that?” Charlie asks, now resting her elbows on her crossed legs, chin in her hands. 

“No,” Zari says. “Maybe.”

“I don’t really believe in telling people to do things they don’t want to do,” Charlie says. “You’re not making a great argument for staying out here.”

“I want to be out here,” Zari says. “That’s the problem. I want to be… cool about this. I want to just be able to be like, ‘Oh, dirt floor! How exciting!’ and go to sleep.”

Charlie lets out a small laugh at that, and Zari can’t help but smile a little to herself. “Z, I think you staying out here merits that you have sufficiently braved the outdoors.”

“No,” Zari says. When she shakes her head, a few stray strands fall out of her pins and into her eyes. “I don’t want to half do things anymore. I want to stay out.”

“You are decidedly stubborn about making yourself miserable,” Charlie says. 

“That’s the thing!” Zari says. “I thought maybe I was miserable because I was alone. I didn’t even realize everyone was pairing off until it was way too late and they’d all gone off to have weird tent sex and you’d left the campfire way earlier than everyone else so I thought I’d just try to go to bed.”

“Aw, are you telling me I’m a second pairing choice?” Charlie teases. “Behrad get to Nate before you could?”

Zari makes a face. “Yes, but that doesn’t make you my second choice,” she says.

“Third?” Charlie says, raising her eyebrows. “Don’t tell me John isn’t a good bedfellow.”

Zari has to bite her tongue to keep from a full grin. “You tell me,” she says.

“Snores,” Charlie says. “Doesn’t smell like cigarettes anymore, though. That’s nice.”

Zari meets her eyes. “I’ll take that into consideration,” she says, before she lets out a low giggle. “I thought you could maybe… grow extra arms to hold me with, or something,” Zari says. “I’m so cold.”

“Extra arms?” Charlie says. “Why don’t I just turn into a big ol’ bear for you?”

Zari tilts her head. “Are you joking?”

“If I wasn’t, would you be into it?” Charlie asks.

“Shut up,” Zari says. “I just don’t want to sleep alone.”

Charlie considers this. She takes Zari’s hand. “Come on.” 

“You’re moving for the exit,” Zari says. “That’s the opposite direction I want to move.”

“You’re too wound up,” Charlie says. “You’re just going to toss and turn and there’s not a lot of room in here. Not really up to getting repeatedly elbowed by those pointy things.”

“They are pointy,” Zari admits. “But it’s so cold out there!”

“Because you’re not dressed for it,” Charlie says. She unbuttons the top of her pajamas, letting it fall down her shoulders, leaving her in a tank top and thermal bottoms.

“Is this a skin-to-skin contact thing?” Zari says. “I don’t think that’s going to work here.”

“It’s not,” Charlie says. “It’s a me offering you some spare clothes thing.”

“Won’t you get cold?” Zari says. “Aren’t you mortal?”

“In some ways,” Charlie says. “Plenty of ways to be warm, though. I really only wear clothes for the rest of you.”

“You like the aesthetics,” Zari says, gingerly taking Charlie’s flannel top. “Don’t lie.”

“Okay, that too,” Charlie says, watching Zari pull the flannel over her existing satin pajama top. “You’ll be warm. I promise.”

“Fine,” Zari says, buttoning up Charlie’s shirt, snuggling it under her chin. “But if I’m not-“

“You won’t be,” Charlie says. “I’m bringing the sleeping bag just to be sure.”

“And the lantern,” Zari says. 

Charlie almost laughs.

“We don’t know what’s out there!” Zari says. “You know what’s great about being inside? There are walls. And doors. People can’t just walk up and murder you.”

“Come on, Z,” Charlie says. “You could get murdered anywhere.”

“Thanks,” she says.

“You take the lantern,” Charlie says. “And follow me.”

“Can I have your slippers?” Zari asks. “I mean. If you don’t get. Cold. Mine are getting ruined.”

Charlie kicks them off without a second thought, making a reach for the zipper of the door flap. “All yours,” Charlie says. “Mess them up as you’d like.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Zari says. She’s precariously close, sitting between Charlie and the exit, warm breath close enough that Charlie can smell the mint of the portable toothbrush Zari must’ve used. “I’m just borrowing them.”

“I really don’t mind,” Charlie says. Zari’s eyes take on certain golds from the artificial light, reflected back as Charlie finds herself staring. “Mind moving aside?” she says. “I’d like to step out.”

“Oh,” Zari says. “Right. Yeah. Sorry.” She keeps eye contact longer than could be considered decent, only breaking when she’s moved herself off into the opposie corner, turning her head to look at her knees.

Charlie takes a gulp of air as she steps out, arching her back as she stands. Stretching. She’s aware of the cold, as she’d been before, but she’s never really cared much about it. It keeps the team comfortable, if she wears a coat when it’s cold and seems like she needs it. But if Zari needs it more, Charlie’s happy to let her have it. She doesn’t even feel like shifting into a new one.

“Can you help me out?” Zari asks, reaching her little hand out of the entryway. “I hate how low these things are.”

“‘Course,” Charlie says, taking her hand without second thought and pulling her up. She’s steadier coming out than she was going in. The extra layer under her blanket seems to be helping, and her feet seem sufficiently cozy. “I just need to grab the sleeping bag.”

“Just the one, right?” Zari asks, as Charlie leans back in to get it.

“Is that an issue?” Charlie says. 

“No,” Zari says, voice trailing off. “I was just wondering.”

“We can go get yours, if you want,” Charlie says. She tucks the sleeping bag under her arm.

“It’s fine,” Zari says, linking her arm through Charlie other. “We can share.”

Charlie shrugs at that. “Not a problem for me,” she says.

“But you’re not going to like, put it just straight up on the ground, are you?” Zari asks. “Where there’s… dirt?”

Charlie smiles at the question. “Where else am I going to put it?” she asks.

“My hair is going to get so gross,” Zari says.

“It’s roomy,” Charlie says. “You should be able to fit in without the dirt.”

“Okay but if I can’t,” Zari says. “Then what?”

“Dunno,” Charlie says. “Guess you’ll have to think on your feet.”

“Laying down,” Zari corrects. 

Charlie bumps Zari’s shoulder with her own, the motion making the lantern in Zari’s hand swing back and forth. They pad past a couple of tents that Sara and Nate had put closer to the fire pit, one with a low light coming out and one completely dark. 

“Where’s your tent?” Charlie asks.

“It was pretty close to yours,” Zari says. “I didn’t set it up. I just picked an empty one.”

Charlie’s fine with letting that answer rest, and Zari doesn’t make much of it. She leads Zari past the put-out campfire, a little further into the clearing. “Here,” she says.

“Here what?” Zari says.

Charlie unlinks their arms so se can unroll the sleeping bag, unzip the front of it. “Look up.”

She doesn’t hear anything except for Zari softly saying, “Oh.”

Charlie lets that one rest in her chest, a warmth that isn’t physical but felt. “Do you want to get in first?” She asks, looking up at Zari. She’s still holding the lantern, her hand poking out from the cloak of her blanket cape. 

Zari shifts her hips. “Uh,” she says. “Maybe you first? Can we fit my blanket in there?”

“We could lay your blanket on top,” Charlie says. “Is it machine washable?”

“No,” Zari says, holding it a little tighter.

“Course not,” Charlie says, grinning. She sits down into the sleeping back, sliding in her legs and firmly trying to keep herself on the left side. There isn’t a ton of room, but Zari’s so lithe it shouldn’t really be a problem.

“Okay,” Zari says, kneeling down to put the lantern by Charlie’s head. She looks at her for a moment, the way Charlie’s laid down. “Hold this,” she says, relinquishing the blanket. “We can share it. In the sleeping bag.”

“Sure,” Charlie says.

Zari goes in slowly, with the trepidation of someone who worries about the deep dark secrets of a sleeping bag. She starts by sitting next to Charlie, tenderly putting dipping one leg in. Charlie feels her slipper feeling around, using Charlie’s leg as a guiding metric.

“You’re not going to get burned,” Charlie says. “It’s okay.”

Zari rolls her eyes. “I know that,” she says. “I’m just trying to be considerate of your space.”

She slides her other leg in, blessedly faster than the first time, but takes an aching amount of time to lower her back to the ground.

She has one moment of perfect stillness, barely a full breath, before she turns slightly on her side, putting her knee up on Charlie’s legs, digging herself lower into the sleeping bag so she can rest her head on the crook of Charlie’s arm.

“You said the bag was long enough that I wouldn’t get dirt in my hair,” Zari says, tilting her head up just enough to look at Charlie’s face. “But I don’t want to risk it.”

Charlie idly puts her hand on top of Zari’s head, softly stroking her hair. She waits for Zari to say something, but she doesn’t, just hooks her heel between Charlie’s calves, anchoring herself to the closest leg.

“Can you grab the zipper?” Charlie asks.

“Hm?” Zari says.

“The sleeping bag zipper,” Charlie says. “Pull it up so you can get warm.”

“Oh. Right,” Zari says. She props herself up on the elbow under her body, using her other arm to reach for the zipper and pull. “There.”

Charlie hands her a corner of the blanket and she pulls it over herself, taking back her resting place on Charlie’s right side. Her arm lays across Charlie’s stomach.

“This is warm,” Zari says. 

“Good,” Charlie says. With her left hand, she turns off the lantern.

“Wait,” Zari says. “You didn’t tell me we were going to go completely dark.”

“It’s okay,” Charlie says. “We’ve got all the stars to ourselves.”

Zari shifts her gaze skyward. “Huh,” she says. “I guess we do.”

“Do you know the constellations?” Charlie asks.

“Not really,” Zari says. “I bet you do. Since they’re all Greek.”

“Well, not all of them,” Charlie says. “And not to everyone, but-” She points with her free hand. “Look at that one. That one always makes me so… sad.”

“Hm?” Zari asks, trying to follow Charlie’s finger. “Which one? Why?”

Charlie outlines the shape from memory, four stars seeming to knowingly stare down at her. “Lyra. The Lyre.”

“The instrument?” Zari asks.

“Yeah,” Charlie says. 

“Why a lyre?” Zari says. “I’d think it would be like, the harp. Or something.”

Charlie hadn’t registered that she’d still been petting Zari’s hair, since she’d laid down. She only notices now because when she stops- When she remembers to stop- She takes a moment to really appreciate it, the easy, silky feeling of it slipping through her fingers.

“It’s Orpheus’ lyre,” Charlie says. “Old Hermes made it for him. The first one ever.”

“So that was… the first time you’d heard music?” Zari asks.

“Definitely not,” Charlie says. “But it was the first time there had been music like… that.”

“Inspiration?” Zari says.

“I don’t think Orpheus would be fond of my style,” Charlie says. “He was too gentle. Entirely soft. Good.”

“Not a punk?” Zari asks.

“Wouldn’t say that,” Charlie says.

Zari places her hand precariously close to Charlie’s breast and her cheek on top of her hand, giving her a better angle to look at the lines of Charlie’s face in the darkness. “Did it really happen?” she asks.

“Did what happen?” Charlie says.

She hears frustrated little sound Zari makes. “Orpheus,” Zari says. “Did he really just… do what the story says?”

“‘Course he did,” Charlie says. “I watched him do it.”

Zari considers this. “Did you know how it was going to end?”

“Yeah,” Charlie says. “I did.”

“Did you try to stop him?” Zari says.

“I couldn’t,” Charlie says, a short, electric burst of guilt following the statement.

“Did you want to?” Zari says.

“It wouldn’t matter,” Charlie says.

She gets the quiet noise of Zari swallowing a question, maybe something harsh. Maybe something unflattering. Charlie wouldn’t mind it. “What about-“ She reaches up with her free arm, keeping her head on Charlie’s chest and her head on her hand. “That?”

“Heracles?” Charlie asks. “What about him?”

“No idea,” Zari says. “I was just pointing.”

Charlie giggles at that, maybe for a few beats longer than she should.

“Was he…” Zari looks for a word. “Strong?”

“Very,” Charlie says.

“What else?” Zari says.

“He was very sad,” Charlie says. “He carried so much grief with him. Wasn’t even his fault.”

“Do you know any happy people?” Zari asks. It’s not asked as a retort. It’s genuine. Concerned.

“You.” Her fingers curl Zari’s hair, a quiet, comforting gesture. 

“That’s not a very good answer,” Zari says.

“Why not?” Charlie asks.

Zari twists again, to put both arms on Charlie’s chest, give herself the leverage up, so her gaze can meet Charlie’s and burn holes into her skull. “I don’t think I’m happy.” She pauses. “I’m just busy.”

“Why aren’t you happy?” Charlie asks.

Zari lets the quiet speak for her, not moving, just staring.

“Look,” Charlie says, tugging Zari by her arm, rolling her back onto her side so she can look up. “Above Heracles, there’s Draco. The dragon. Your stars.”

She gets a bemused noise at that. “Those aren’t mine,” Zari says.

“Okay,” Charlie says. “Tell me why it’s called Draco, then.”

“You know I don’t know that,” Zari says.

“Exactly,” Charlie says. “Maybe give it another two or three thousand years, and there will be a new story entirely. That will be your dragon.”

“I don’t see that happening,” Zari says.

“You haven’t seen as much as I have,” Charlie says.

“That is true,” Zari replies.

“Maybe even Heracles will be someone else,” Charlie says.

“Like who?” Zari says.

“No idea,” Charlie says. She grins. “That’s the fun of it.”

“There’s no-“ Zari gestures upwards. “Clotho star? Fates stars?”

“Nope,” Charlie says.

“Okay,” Zari says. “Then that one will be it.”

Charlie follows her hand. “That’s Arcturus.”

“I don’t know what that means.” Zari says. “It’s Alpha-Charlie, now.”

“Is it?” Charlie asks.

“Yeah,” Zari says, snuggling herself against Charlie’s side. It’s impossible to get closer, so she just moves, just lets Charlie know that her body is there. “I’ve decided.”

“I’ll be sure to let everyone know,” Charlie says. “I know a star man who’ll get a real laugh out of it.”

“Tell him about my dragon, too,” Zari mumbles.

“I’ll open with the dragon,” Charlie says.

“Hey,” Zari asks. “Are you okay?”

“Are you?” Charlie responds. “You’re the one who’s acclimating to the outdoors.”

“I’m fine,” Zari says. “Warm.”

“Good,” Charlie says.

Zari plants her hand on Charlie’s left side, pushing herself up so she can be kneeling. One knee between Charlie’s legs, trapping her right leg between Zari’s thighs. Zari uses Charlie’s shoulder as a spot for her other hand, hovering over Charlie and blocking out the stars with her curtains of dark hair.

“Z?” Charlie asks.

Zari leans in and kisses Charlie on the corner of her mouth. “Wait-“ she says. “It’s hard to see-“

Charlie turns her head so their lips can meet properly. Zari sighs into it, her fingers curling around the curve of Charlie’s shoulder.

Charlie wraps her arms around Zari’s waist, briefly remembering that she’s supposed to be shielding Zari from the cold. She’s craning her head back, chin tilted up to give Zari better leverage to her mouth. 

Zari kisses in sprints, her soft lips meeting Charlie, eager and ever-waiting, and she breaks after every few heartbeats, sucking in a breath, looking down. And she goes in again. Charlie would tell her not to hold her breath, but she’s not entirely sure if that’s it, or if Zari is just ever-impatient. Kissing and then wanting something more and then kissing again.

Charlie keeps kissing after her, moving her mouth in the absence of Zari. Kissing the way she breathes, warm, onto Charlie’s chin. Her neck.

Zari moves her hand to Charlie’s neck, lowering herself, putting her weight on her knees. She covers Charlie with a security blanket kind of feel, nails gently stroking up and down Charlie’s neck. She is always squirming, body undulating against Charlie, her knee grinding between Charlie’s legs. 

Her hands move again, both on either side of Charlie’s face. She’s taken to pinning Charlie under her body, shielding her view from the night sky. Each kiss is a starry sky in itself, Charlie aching at the sensation of it, grabbing a handful of Zari’s hair and holding her head, kissing her longer, until she can hear Zari’s breath coming in and out of her nose. Even as her grip loosens, Zari stays. A different kind of heavy breathing, like a deep diver, slower than before, keeping her head under.

Charlie can do nothing but swoon as Zari kisses her with pressing intent. She’s transferred that restless flitting to her tongue, which makes paths from Charlie’s lower lip to inside her mouth, and back. Against Charlie’s tongue. Lower lip again. 

Charlie strokes Zari’s back, comfortable in the weight of Zari’s body, in the heat that she radiates.

She breaks for air again. “Hey,” Zari says. Her breath is too hot in the night air, coming out in white puffs. Charlie feels a swell of pride with each one, thinking of how her own body is starting to boil, her mouth shining with spit and growing heat. “Charlie.”

“Mm?” Charlie asks. 

She watches Zari smile. She keeps herself safely against Charlie’s body, stroking her cheek. “Let’s go inside.”

“You think you could fall asleep?” Charlie asks.

“Maybe,” Zari says. “I wasn’t thinking about it.”

“Cheeky,” Charlie says.

Zari kisses her again. Quickly. Just for the use of the word.

“Listen,” Zari says. “I could probably go to sleep but… let’s get back on the ship.”

“Aw, Z,” Charlie says. “You haven’t been won over to the great outdoors?”

“Nope,” Zari says. “I just keep thinking about how much I want a hot shower.”

“Before or after we starting kissing?” Charlie says.

“Uh, during,” Zari says.

“Well,” Charlie says, pretending she really has to consider it. “I can’t deny how good a shower would feel.”

Zari lets out a little giggle. Maybe it’s too victorious to be girly, but it’s certainly sweet. “I don’t know why I even tried staying out here.”

“You got to share this tiny little sleeping bag with me,” Charlie says. 

“It’s small,” Zari says, patting Charlie on the chest. “But you’re comfy. I’m getting very used to you as my body pillow.”

“A body pillow” Charlie says. “And I still only have the two arms.”

“We can make adjustments as needed,” Zari says. “I think I know what I like.”

Charlie strokes a small swirl against Zari’slower back. “And that is?”

Zari visibly relaxes at the touch. She pauses in her thought, laying back down on top of Charlie and letting out a content little sigh.

She presses a needy kiss against Charlie’s jaw, and then another. “I think I did definitely get dirt in my hair,” Zari says. “Would you help me wash it out?”

Charlie laughs at that, too loudly, the sound a bright burst against the quiet dark. “I’d be happy to help,” she says.

“Good,” Zari says. “Let’s go get warm.” She pauses, halfway to getting up. “Er. Warmer, I mean.”

“I took no offense,” Charlie says, grinning at her, neither of them able to hold in the shared laugh that spills out.

“Hey!” Charlie gets up to the sound of a faint whisper shout, rustling in the light night breeze. “Hey! Jerks! If you two were going to hook up, you could’ve done it farther away from my tent!”

“Ah,” Charlie says. “Did we wake you, captain?”

“Don’t be so smug about it!” Sara says back, dropping the whisper to properly express her frustration.

“Sorry,” Zari says, though she seems to mean it about as much as Charlie did. She looks in what she thinks is Sara’s direction, making out her silhouette from the returned lamplight. “We thought we were being quiet.”

“Is that why you’ve been speaking at full volume this entire time?” Sara says.

“We were?” Zari asks.

“The star talk was nice,” Ava says, though she’s muffled, obviously still laying down in her tent. “The part where you guys started having sex was weird.”

“Come on,” Charlie says. “Do you really think that’s the loudest we’d be if we were really going at it?”

“We were obviously just making out,” Zari says. 

“They have a point,” Sara says.

“Everyone shut up and go to SLEEP,” Behrad says, finally turning the light on in his tent. Charlie makes out his shadow against red wicked canvas. “You guys are SO lucky Nate can literally sleep through anything.”

“God, I wish that were me,” Ava says.

“GO TO BED,” Behrad says.

“Inside?” Charlie asks Zari.

Zari wraps her arm around Charlie, taking her in, under the blanket. “Inside,” she says.

“Good!” Sara says. “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight Sara,” they manage to say, at once, giggling about it even as they cling to each other, traipsing around in the dark, headed for the ship.

**Author's Note:**

> blah blah a circumpolar constellation just means that if you live in the northern hemisphere you can see it all year and not just seasonally. draco is circumpolar. zarlie metaphor. etc.
> 
> [tumblr](http://zaritarazi.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/zaritarazi)


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